Facing The Inevitable
by Mondhase
Summary: In the future: Chris is held as a prisoner by Wyatt who wants information about the rebellion.


**A/N: This is actually the first fanfiction I've ever written in English back in '06, now slightly revised as I hope both my English and general writing skills have improved over the years. It's a death!fic with a hard M rating for violence so you've been warned. No slash, though.**

**Please R&R**

**Facing The Inevitable**

When Chris woke up, he did so with a pained groan. His complete body ached like hell. It took his eyes a few seconds to adjust to his dark surrounding, but he immediately noticed the terrible smell that filled the air.

It was cold and stale, but mixed with a lingering scent of death that told of the dozens of people who had died in this place over the years. Chris cringed as a feeling of nausea began to grow in his stomach and it was then that he noticed the weird position he was in.

He was standing, or rather hanging, his wrists tied with solid chains to the ceiling above his head. His feet didn't touch the ground completely, so he couldn't turn around very well.

The young man stiffened as he suddenly noticed the noise in the distance. Loud voices and screams could be heard and sent a shiver down Chris' spine. Whoever had brought him here surely didn't have anything good in mind. A closer look at the walls, which consisted of cold, wet stone, confirmed this thought. He was obviously in some kind of dungeon.

The anxious feeling that had filled his mind until now was nothing compared to the fear he suddenly felt, when he heard the shuffling of feet behind him. He tried to turn his head, but neither left nor right could he look far enough to see who was standing there.

"Hey, little bro." The heaviness of his footsteps and his slow pace mirrored the self-confidence that seemed to be emitting from the blonde witch. Chris closed his eyes and mouthed a silent 'no', before he raised his voice enough, so that Wyatt could hear him.

"So, you're the one behind all this. I should have known. What do you want from me?" He could feel that Wyatt was standing directly behind him and wondered what he might do, when his head was suddenly jerked backwards. His brother had grabbed a bunch of his hair and pulled it down, so that Chris was now looking at him.

"You know where they hide, don't you? All those who oppose me, who want to see me dead. I know you're their leader." He led go of Chris' hair and leaned against the wall next to him, so he could see his face. He smirked.

"How pathetic they choose you of all people; no wonder no one could ever stop me. If they listen to what you say, it's a miracle that there are still some of them alive."

Chris wanted to give one of his typical smart ass replies, but for once he couldn't think of anything to say. He hung his head so he didn't have to look at his brother. He had fought him for years and in that time he had lost a lot of friends. Michael, who had been his best friend all through high school, had been killed last year by one of Wyatt's men. No, he hadn't just been killed, he had been burned alive while he was on a mission for Chris. The whitelighter hadn't slept normally for weeks, always waking up after hearing his friend's cries for help and seeing his burning flesh.

"What, you don't have anything to say? Come on, you can't disappoint me like that, after all, we haven't met for such a long time." Wyatt grabbed his chin and lifted Chris' head so he could see his face. On his brother's lips was a small smile, although the blonde man couldn't see anything funny in this situation. At least not from Chris' point of view.

"Why are you smiling?" Chris locked eyes with his brother and was pleased at the small hint of uncertainty he could see there. But he wouldn't tell him just now, Wyatt would know soon enough.

"I'll tell you later, I promise and maybe then you won't call me a bad leader anymore." Wyatt scrutinised his face for a moment and then decided to go back to the main reason that the dark haired man had been brought here.

"All right then, although I very much doubt that I will ever say that. Now tell me, where is your hideout?"

Now Chris couldn't suppress a small chuckle. Did Wyatt honestly believe he would betray the rebels, his friends? He had to be thinking of him as a much worse leader than even he himself thought he was. Never _ever_ would he tell his brother anything that would harm them.

Chris told him this, but obviously Wyatt wasn't satisfied with that answer. He punched his brother hard into the face, making Chris swing back and forth, his feet dragging over the ground, trying desperately to get a better hold. His left cheek was burning where the fist hit him and his wrists ached where the chains cut into his skin.

Wyatt put a hand on his brother's chest and stopped his movement this way, but he surely didn't want to help. A second later, bolds of electricity shot through Chris' body, tormenting him and although he wanted to hide his pain, he couldn't help, but cry out in agony. Head thrown back and eyes shut tightly, he clenched his teeth to keep himself from screaming, because he didn't want to give Wyatt the satisfaction of knowing how well his torture was actually working.

When the pain finally subsided, Chris was so worn out that the chains on his wrists were the only thing holding him upright. If he were free, he would collapse to the floor right now, so he was actually quite grateful for being tied to the ceiling, because he surely didn't want to crouch in front of his brother.

Wyatt was looking at Chris, who was breathing heavily, his head fallen to his chest. The young whitelighter wasn't as cooperative as he had hoped he would be, but on the other hand had Chris never accepted his offer to join him. Had he really expected him now to give information away so easily that would destroy the rebellion? Well, maybe he just needed a little bit more persuasion.

"Bring her in!" Chris lifted his head and stared in shock at Wyatt. He was quite sure he wouldn't leave this room alive and it didn't really matter anymore, but now his brother was going to torture somebody else to force him to tell him what he wanted to know.

"No! Wyatt, this is something between the two of us, don't get anyone else involved. I'm _begging_ you, _don't_!" But he knew, it was hopeless. The blonde witch was smiling at him and put an arm on his shoulders as if the word 'brother' really still meant something to him.

"Come on, little bro, you don't even know who it is. You should be glad of some company. And I suggest you save the begging for later, 'cause she might need it." With that, they both watched as the door opened, and while his brother seemed to be happy about his little surprise, Chris' face twisted with horror as he recognised the dark haired girl with the tanned skin that was now brought into the cell.

"Bianca." His voice cracked, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Why did it have to be her, the one person that meant _everything_ to him? White hot anger surged through him as the urge to strangle Wyatt with his bare hands became almost overwhelming. But as Chris couldn't really so much about it in his position, he tried to block out the emotion and focused on the woman in front of him instead, a small part of him glad to see her again before his inevitable death, despite their situation.

Their eyes met and Bianca smiled at him weakly.

"Hey." Her hands had been tied behind her back, but beside a bruised lip she seemed to be okay. So far. Chris couldn't take his eyes off of her and they both knew that although he loved her very much, he could not and would not sacrifice their friends' lives to save hers. A tear ran down his face and he hung his head so Wyatt wouldn't see it. Maybe he could prevent her death, but not without betraying everything they had fought for so hard and she would kill him herself if he did so.

"Tie her to the wall." Wyatt ordered the two demons that had brought Bianca in and so they removed the rope from her wrists and chained her arms left and right from her head to the wall. Then she stood there, head high and stared Wyatt in the eye. She knew she was going to suffer terribly and then die, but she certainly was _not _going to show any signs of fear. This bastard would kill her first, then his own brother, but the last thing Chris needed right now, was her whimpering and begging for her live. That was _never_ going to happen.

The two demons had left the room and now it was just the three of them. Wyatt left his brother's side and walked over to Bianca who was still staring at him defiantly. Except her greeting to Chris she hadn't said a word so far and her mouth was still tightly shut, when the young man stood in front of her.

"It's really nice of you to join us here, Bianca, I think Chris might be glad of your company." He turned around to his brother, who hadn't looked back up yet.

"Aren't you glad, she's here?" When Chris gave no answer, Wyatt turned back to Bianca and gently put a finger under her chin to lift her head up.

"Is he that tight-lipped, when he's with you, too?" Bianca withstood his constant glare, but she, too, didn't say a word.

"Well, I suppose you two have other things to do than talk, right?" With that, he lowered his head and reduced the distance between his lips and those of the young woman. She tried in vain to turn her head, but he had grabbed her chin forcefully and kept her in place. Their faces where only inches apart when a loud voice came from behind Wyatt.

"Don't! Don't touch her!" The blond man smiled as he brought his lips down on Bianca's for a light kiss and then released his grip on her and went back over to Chris.

"Now, that's my brother; never begrudging me any fun. But, don't worry," he nudged Chris into his side as if all this was just a big joke to him, "I only wanted to give her a farewell kiss, because now," he faced Bianca and raised his arm so his open palm was aimed at her, "she's going to die."

Chris had known what would happen, but he was nevertheless shocked when Wyatt shot blue bolts of electricity at his girlfriend. She had always been strong, but the whitelighter was surprised to see that even now she didn't show any signs of weakness. Her body was trembling, but she wasn't screaming and her gaze was defiantly fixed on Wyatt, although Chris could tell from his own experience in how much pain she was. He wanted to yell at his brother to stop, but somehow he couldn't make a sound. He just stood there and watched Bianca suffering.

When Wyatt lowered his arm, her knees threatened to give way, but with some difficulty she managed to keep herself upright. Hers and Chris' eyes met and she smiled at him again sadly, before Wyatt stepped into the way.

He looked into Chris' face and when he finally spoke again his voice was menacing, no trace left from his former light-heartedness.

"You're both gonna die in here, if you don't tell me where the rebels hide. It's your only chance." Seconds passed, but Chris made no attempt to answer him, so Wyatt continued. "I thought she's your girlfriend and now you don't want to take the opportunity and save her?"

"I'll never betray my friends."

"But you betray her. Isn't that just as bad?" Now Chris raised his head and gave Wyatt an angry look.

"I do _not_ betray her. Bianca wouldn't tell you anything either, because there are more important things than just the two of us." Wyatt snorted at that comment.

"Oh, what a selfless couple, isn't it sweet? Then I hope you said properly goodbye to her when you left."

Chris' eyes widened as he saw the energy ball Wyatt was forming in his hand. Before the young whitelighter could react, his brother had thrown the projectile at Bianca, who yelled in pain and then went awfully silent. She hung limb in the chains that still tied her to the wall, her stomach a bloody mess.

"No! Bianca! No!" His cries turned into a whisper and Chris led his head fall to his chest, tears streaming down his face. What did it matter if Wyatt saw it? Bianca was dead, nothing mattered anymore, but at least it wouldn't take long until he could follow her. Only a few more minutes, then Wyatt would realise what was happening.

Chris tried to stop the sobs coming from his throat, but he didn't succeed. He hadn't seen Bianca in months and he had certainly not expected to see her here. The thought of her save and still out there, fighting on even after his death had been a huge comfort in the time since their ways had parted, but now she wasn't out there anymore. Now her body was hanging on the wall to his left, constantly getting colder as her blood flowed freely from the fresh wound, already forming a puddle on the floor.

Chris lifted his head when he was suddenly slapped across the face. Wyatt stood in front of him, looking at him angrily.

"Stop crying like a baby. You're…" But Chris never got to know what he was, because in that moment Wyatt started to cough violently. He had to get a hold on the wall to stabilise himself and the whitelighter could tell his brother wasn't feeling all too well. It took him about a minute to catch his breath again and when he saw his hand, he was shocked to see red drops of blood on it.

"What the…?"

The blond man turned around when the door was suddenly opened and one of his men entered the room, panic visible in his eyes.

"Sir, it's Goran and Nathan, the demons who brought him here." He pointed with his hand at Chris.

"What about them?"

"They're… they're dead."

"_What_?"

"Yes, not even half an hour ago, they said they didn't feel well and then they started coughing blood, and now… now they're dead. I swear, I don't know what happened, I…" Wyatt faced his brother and his features were twisted with anger as he spoke again.

"Leave us alone."

"W…what?"

"GO!"

"Yes, sir!" With that the man bowed his head and scurried out of the room as fast as he could and closed the door behind him.

Wyatt grabbed the collar of Chris' shirt and pulled the young man closer to him.

"What did you do? What kind of trick is this?"

"Don't you feel it, Wy, you're dying."

"No, you're lying. How could you have done it? You didn't have anything with you and you couldn't know my men would catch you today." Wyatt let go of Chris' shirt and took a step back, when his brother suddenly started to laugh. It was the laugh of a desperate man, dry and without a trace of humour.

"Oh, dear _brother_, would you have ever guessed that it's _me_ who'd bring you down? In this very moment there's a poison in your blood, killing you. I give you ten, maybe fifteen minutes left, then your breathing will stop completely and you'll slowly suffocate." He watched with cold eyes as Wyatt started coughing again, this time spitting even more blood. The blonde witch wiped a hand across his mouth before he looked at Chris again.

"But how?" Again a small chuckle from the young man.

"Every _inch_ of my skin got poisoned. I knew it was just a matter of time until your men would catch me and that you wanted to kill me yourself. So, when we found this poison around six months ago, it wasn't hard to decide who would do it. It's darkest magic and believe me, there's no antidote for it. "

Wyatt looked at him for a moment, completely stunned and he admitted he had underestimated his little brother. But if he thought he would come out of here alive, he was being naïve.

He went back over to Chris, an athame appearing in his hand.

"Then I won't be the only one in here, to die in ten to fifteen minutes." His hand was trembling, if from the poison or just from his anger, Chris couldn't tell, but when the tip of the blade pierced his skin, it seemed to become much steadier. The young man hissed in pain when Wyatt drew a line of blood across his chest and tried to steel himself for what was yet to come. He said to himself over and over again that it would take fifteen minutes at the most, but he was sure Wyatt knew how to use this time.

He felt his brother's hand on his chest and looked down only to throw his head back again when electricity shot once more through his exhausted body. Where Wyatt had just cut him, it felt as if his skin was being ripped off of his flesh and he screamed in agony. When the pain finally subsided, he let his head rest against his arm, too weak to hold himself up anymore, but it wasn't over yet. He got cut again and again, the blade sinking deeper into his flesh every time he was attacked. And each time he was shocked afterwards until he didn't even have the strength to cry out anymore.

Chris opened his eyes weakly and looked at Wyatt whose face was pale and sweaty, the poison acting in his veins. He had had to stop several times during the torture, coughing violently, and now his shirt was already stained by the blood he spat. He, too, looked at his brother and laid a hand on his chest again, but this time to steady himself. He didn't have much time left, Wyatt could feel it, but he would see to it that somebody else died before him.

He put his left arm around Chris, pulling him into a hug and moved his head, so his lips were directly at his brother's ear.

"You'll... go first." He whispered as he shoved the blade deep into Chris's stomach. The dark haired man winced and drew a ragged breath, but otherwise didn't make a sound. Only when Wyatt slightly turned the handle of the athame did he groan in pain again. He wanted to scream, but his throat was sore and he felt much too weak to do so anymore. Nevertheless, Wyatt seemed to be satisfied and pulled away from him again. To Chris' surprise there was no electricity when his brother pulled the blade out of him, but only in his nightmares had he seen what Wyatt had still in store for him.

Blood flowed from the wound in his stomach and several cuts all across his body and he was barely awake when he watched what the man in front of him was doing. Wyatt had one arm stretched out, the hand only inches away from Chris' body and suddenly there were flames emitting from his palm.

Seeing the fire this close to him brought Chris back to consciousness and his head snapped up to Wyatt's face, fear in his eyes.

"No. What… what are you doing?" He felt ready to cry when he saw that there was no hint of compassion in his own brother's eyes and now he knew how he was going to die. Wyatt would burn him alive.

The hand moved closer and Chris tried to get away, but it was hopeless.

"Don't, Wy. Please, don't!" But the flames were already scorching his shirt and he could feel the heat on his body.

He started to scream when the fire burned brightly on his shirt and spread over to his skin. His world consisted of nothing but flames and agony while his brother, Bianca and everything else had been forgotten.

Wyatt watched as the fire covered Chris' body, burning his flesh and listened to his screams while he went slowly backwards. Each step took a lot of his energy and when he finally felt the cold stone in his back, he led himself slide down the wall to the ground. Breathing had become a hard task and he wasn't getting enough air anymore. His time was up, he knew it, but he was pleased to see that his brother was suffering just as he was, probably even more. He was still screaming, but his movements were slowing down and it wouldn't take long anymore until he was dead. It was his own fault after all. Chris was the one who had poisoned him and he had certainly known that he would die for that. Well, maybe he hadn't thought of _this_ kind of death.

Wyatt chuckled as he thought of what Chris had said earlier. He, the most powerful being on earth, was drawing his last breath and he had to admit it.

"It seems, little bro, that you actually _are_ a good leader."

- The End -


End file.
